Daniel Cotton (d. 1829) married Elizabeth Watson (d. ca. 1820). Their son, James W. Cotton (d. 1820), became a physician in Savannah, Georgia; another son, Charles Cotton (b. 1818), became a merchant in Savannah and Macon, Georgia, and New York; a daughter, Eliza, married (ca. 1824) Cleveland Jarman Salter of New Haven, Connecticut. The Cotton family lived in New York and in Macon, Georgia. Charles Cotton (d. 1852) married Elizabeth W. Bullock; their daughter, Marian Cotton (b. 1837), married Albert M. Blackshear in 1862. Marian and A.M. Blackshear's son, Charles Cotton Blackshear (1862-1938), became a chemistry professor and world traveller. The Blackshear family primarily lived in Macon, Georgia.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of correspondence, business papers, miscellaneous personal papers, pocket journals, a lithograph, a map, and a dissertation of the Cotton family from 1810-1939. The correspondence consists of letters from the Cotton family, Blackshear family, related families, and their business acquaintances. Many letters to Charles C. Blackshear discuss his study of Sanskrit. Several letters to Charles C. Blackshear are from W. Adams Oram, in England, and one letter is from A. Conan Doyle (1926).

The business papers include materials of James W. Cotton and Charles Cotton, especially receipts, bonds, mortgages, accounts, and tax notices. The personal papers consist of a variety of materials and include estate papers of James W. Cotton and Charles C. Blackshear. Clippings relate to Charles C. Blackshear's world travels, particularly to Java, Indonesia. Blackshear’s pocket memo books contain notes on his 1906 and 1912 trips. Also included in the collection is a lithograph of John Cleveland Salter, son of Eliza and C.J. Salter; and a map of Java. The collection includes a dissertation written by Charles C. Blackshear for his Johns Hopkins degree (1890).